Aggregates Manager

August 2013

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An automated unloading system allows asphalt
millings unloading without the presence of any
personnel. When a truck comes up, it triggers
a sensor that starts up the system. This allows
trucks to dump any time, day or night. Since quite
a bit of road work is done at night during lighter
traffic times, this comes in quite handy.
"Some jobs allow 30-percent recycled asphalt in
the mix," Nielson says. "We recycle asphalt in many
of the mix designs. RAP has better rut-resistant
properties than virgin oil mixes."
At the primary plant, material is screened, sized, and sorted. Any oversize material is separated, sent
to the crusher, and goes back through the primary plant.
products, move things around," Nielson
adds.
A benching method is used in the
165-foot-deep pit. The dozer operators cut benches 10 feet out and 20
feet down. "We benched it for safety
reasons, because we're right next to
the railroad track," Nielson explains.
"MSHA has given us high regards on
our benches."
Recycling asphalt
Las Vegas Paving not only processes
aggregate from the pit, it also recycles
asphalt. Most of the asphalt being recycled is from the company's repaving
jobs, such as the Interstate 15 project
it was working on in 2012. Rotomilling
machines go in and grind out about a
mile or so of highway, and that section
is repaved the same night.
"We haul all the millings up here and
dump them into our pit," Nielson says.
"From there, we can feed them into
the system and rework them. We bring
them up the line, crush them down, and
make them reusable material for the
hot-mix plant."
For safety reasons, a benching method is used in the 165-foot-deep pit.
16
Community
encroachment
Like most aggregate operations, Blue Diamond
Pit was in the middle of nowhere when it began
operation. "When this plant was built in the early
'90s, there was nothing across the street but desert," Nielson says. "The houses were a mile or
so away. Now, there are houses right across the
street and a huge housing development is down
the road."
This encroachment has affected the operation in
several ways. The road trucks use to come and go
from the plant, which was once only used by Las
Vegas Paving and its customers, is now being used
by people in the surrounding community to get to
and from their homes. Needless to say, the roadway gets busy at times.
In addition to traffic issues, having homes so
close to the operation brings the challenge of doing
whatever is possible to control dust, noise, and other impacts. Being in the middle of a desert doesn't
help with the dust management. The prevailing
south wind can stir up dust anytime, anywhere,
whether it comes from the operation or not. But
Las Vegas Paving uses extraordinary means to control any potential dust emanating from its plant.
"We've got 168 acres here, and we use our best
efforts," Nielson says. "We've got a zero dust policy,
but dust comes from the desert to the southwest of
the plant."
A full-time street sweeper runs constantly in
and out of the plant entrance, cleaning the curbs
and gutters of the main street to make sure there
is no track out. The plant even moved its main
Aggregates Manager August 2013
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